My First Mistake
by ShesInLoveWithTheBoy
Summary: Casey always wanted to save herself for marriage, But marriage seems so far away. Will one mistakes lead to another, and will she lose what she promised not to? Casey is perfect, but her first mistake, just might be the wrost she will ever make. DASEY.
1. It's Till The End

**I DONT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK **

_Crashed on the floor when I moved in  
__This little bungalow with some strange new friends  
__Stay up too late, and I'm too thin,  
__**Promise each other it's till the end….**_

"Were finally here." Emily said, Dropping the last duffel bag on the hardwood floor.

"Who's gonna feed me?" Derek asked, folding his arms as he stood behind Emily.

She smiled and playfully hit his shoulder. "You can feed yourself… You're a big boy now." She said, as if she was talking to a 5 year old child. She plopped on to the black leather couch that Derek and Sam moved in, just minutes ago.

Sam, Sally, Emily, and Derek all made a pact that after a few years of college, they would all buy a house and move in together, in NYC. At first, Casey wanted nothing to do with it, but they had talked her into it… Although, Derek assured her he wouldn't be upset if he chose to not move in with them… In fact, he would actually prefer she didn't move in.

After four years in NYC, Casey had had enough. She told them that New Jersey was a much better place to live. It was quiet, and the people weren't shoulder-to-shoulder as you walked to work.

They took Casey's advice, and decided that it was New Jersey where they would like to spend the first few years of their adult lives.

They all got apartments in the area until they all had enough money to rent a house. It had to be small enough to afford, but big enough for them to share. They all got their jobs, and once they were ready, they agreed on a house to buy, and bought it.

Emily was now 21, and is working as a dental assistant and soon plans on going back to school to be a dentist.

Sam was 22, he went to college for 3 years on a hockey scholarship, and is now a coach for soccer, which he also loves, at a middle school.

Derek, 22, also went for two years on a hockey scholarship, and is now a hockey coach at a local high school. Although he says he wants to go back to school, nobody really believes him.

Sally was 21. She majored in business and finished her four years, and is now an assistant to a Major fashion designer.

Casey went to school for four years, was now a nurse at a local hospital, and absolutely loves it. She wanted to go back to school to be doctor, but she wasn't sure she had the time.

"Mom… Hi… Yea, were here… Yep, everything is fine. Derek and Sam are moving everything in now… Rain!?" Casey took the cell phone off of her ear and looked out of the screen door, and up into the sky. The giant black cloud sitting over the small white house made her feel like moving in was a huge mistake.

She had been begging for signs all day that this was a bad idea, and the black cloud she was staring at was just the sign she was looking for.

"Oh my God, this is horrible! We can't move the stuff in if its raining!" Casey cried into the phone, putting a hand over her forehead.

"Relax, princess," Derek said, pushing past her. "we probably still have enough time to move in the beds." He pushed the door open, and walked down the concrete steps sitting below the door.

He started to walk towards Sam and Sally, who were trying to load things out of the moving truck.

There was a loud 'Boom' from the thunder making both Casey and Emily jump. Soon after, it was pouring rain.

"Damnit!" Sam yelled, throwing a news paper over his head, and running into the house, pushing past Casey.

"I'm gonna have to call you back, Mom." She said angrily before flipping the phone shut.

"How are we supposed to get the beds in now!?" Casey said, throwing her hands in the air, then letting them fall to her sides as her lower lip started to pop out.

"We'll just do it later." Sally said, dropping her bags by everybody else's, and shaking the rain drops off of her new coat.

"It's 12 AM, how much later can we wait?" Emily asked from the couch.

They had been moving things back and fourth all day, they were all very tired, but too excited to sleep.

"I have a bunch of blankets in one of my bags… We'll just have to sleep on the floor tonight.

"I call couch!" Everybody yelled at the same time, and before they knew it, everybody was laying on top of each other, refusing to get up until one of them gets the couch.

"Okay, Look. I have no problem with sleeping on the floor. Its only for tonight." Sam said, getting off of the couch the best he could.

"Okay, but we _do _have a problem with it." Derek said, squished between Emily and Casey, with Sally laying on top of all of them.

"I'm thinking of a number… one to 10." Sam said, closing his eyes and putting his hands on his temples.

"5!" Derek called out.

"8!" Sally yelled, almost falling off.

"2!" Emily screamed, throwing up the hand that Derek wasn't sitting on.

"6!" Casey yelled, out of breath.

"Sally got it." Sam said, watching Sally's face light up, than watching Derek push her on to the floor.

"OW, DEREK!" She yelled, rubbing her left elbow.

"Oh, sorry." Derek said, obviously not meaning it.

The three got off the couch and looked at Sam, waiting for him to say something. As if he was the father of the house.

"Blankets are in the black and red bag." Sam said, pointing to the bags.

The four walked over, and dug through, each pulling out a few blankets and a pillow.

Once they made a giant bed on the floor, they all sat down, and the only light on in the house was the lamp sitting on the floor with no shade over it.

Sally laid on the couch, talking to Sam, and Emily, Derek, and Casey sat on the floor playing cards.

"I win!... Again." Derek yelled, scooping up all the cards.

"Okay… I'm bored." Casey said, plopping back on the blankets.

"Lets play strip poker." Derek said, raising an eyebrow.

"Lets not." Emily said, rolling her eyes.

"Damn Casey, why are you so skinny!?" Emily asked, obviously jealous.

"I'm fat." Casey said, poking at her stomach.

"Yea, right." Derek scuffed.

"Here, eat something!" Sally joked, throwing a bag of chips at her.

Everybody laughed as Casey opened the bag and popped a chip into her mouth.

"This is going to be amazing." Sally said through a smile.

"We've been waiting to do this since we were 17." Emily said.

"And it's finally here." Casey said, giving Emily a hug.

"Friends till the end?" Sam asked.

"Of course." Derek said.

"Pinky promise?" Sally asked like a child, sticking out her bottom lip.

Everybody stuck their pinky fingers out, and wrapped them around each other. "Till the end." They replied.

**There's alot of LWD stories out there to this song, I figured I would try one. Hope you guys like it (:**


	2. Can't Resist The Day

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_Now we're spinning empty bottles, It's the five of us.  
__With pretty-eyed boys girls die to trust.  
__I can't resist the day;  
__**No I can't resist the day.**_

"I'm bored." Sally said, laying in the middle of the empty room.

"Well, laying on the floor isn't _normally _much fun." Casey said from the window sill she was sitting on, they were in what was going to be the girls room.

"You know, I don't understand why all three girls have to share one room, but the guys get their own rooms." Emily said, flipping through a Cosmo magazine in the door way.

"God forbid they share a room." Sally said, rolling her eyes. She rolled over to the back, and stared at the ceiling. "We should make them paint the room for us, as pay back." She said.

"Yea right, they wont even move the things in." Casey said. "I had to sleep on the floor last night."

"All of us did, _minus Sally._" Emily said, with envy in her eyes as she stared at Sally, but she just stuck her tongue out at her.

Casey took the last sip of her iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts and tossed it out of the window.

"Did you just litter!?" Emily yelled, taking her eyes off of the magazine, and onto Casey.

"Sorry." She said, not meaning it.

"_YEO!"_

"Did you guys hear that?" Sally asked, poking her head up.

"I think." Emily said as they all got to their feet. They looked out of the window, and watched as Derek held his arms out in an angry, and questioning way.

"Oops." Casey said, biting her lip.

"That's it! You guys are dead!" He yelled as he ran for the door.

"AHHHHH!" They all let out a scream as they ran to the bed room door, and slammed it shut quickly as they searched for the lock. When they figured out that the lock was broken, they all leaned against the door, and laughed until their stomachs started to hurt.

They screamed again as they heard Derek's footsteps running up the steps.

Soon, they felt the door fly open, and they all landed on the floor.

"I'm… Sor… Sorry… Derek." Casey said through hysterical laughs, as she held her stomach, and tears came to her eyes.

"Why would you throw a cup at my head?" Derek asked, taking her hand and pulling her off the floor.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to pull herself together. She finally stopped laughing, and pulled him into the hallway, then downstairs.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you down there." She said as they walked into the kitchen. "You have to admit, that _was _pretty funny." She said as she put the food that Derek and Sam had bought, into the fridge.

"No, It wasn't." Derek said, obviously still mad as he helped her put the food in. He placed a bag of apples into the fridge.

"No, Der, That goes in here." Casey said reaching up for the apples, but when she did, Derek leaned over to get the orange juice, sitting in front of Casey, causing their faces to be just inches apart.

They don't know what happened, but both just froze right there, and neither wanted to move.

She didn't know what was going through her mind, and she didn't know what was happened.

He knew exactly what was going on, but he feared that if he tried to kiss her, she would think he was gross, or turn away. The only thing he didn't know, is why he wanted to so badly. This was Casey, nobody special, nobody who he had been waiting for, just, _Casey._

"You guys need any help?" Sam asked from behind them, causing them both to jump.

Derek blinked a few times, then stood up, along with Casey. "Apparently, I don't know what I'm doing so, Casey might need some help." He said as he walked out of the room.

Sam kneeled down next to her, and put the apples in the right spot as she smiled.

"What are you smiling about?" Casey asked.

"I saw that." He said, causing Casey's cheeks to turn a bright shade of pink.

"Saw what?" She played dumb, which she normally wouldn't do, but she also normally wouldn't be in an 'about to kiss' situation with Derek, either.

"You guys were definitely gonna kiss." Sam said, causing Casey's cheeks to get even brighter.

"We were _not._" She said as she stood up, and brought another bag of food to the floor with her.

"If I didn't come so soon, would you have kissed him?" Sam asked, starting to get serious.

"Sam, we weren't going to kiss." She said. "Do you honestly think I would kiss him?" She asked.

"I _didn't_. But now I do, after witnessing that little number." Sam said through a smirk.

Casey just rolled her eyes.

"I bet he wants you." Sam said, trying to dig deeper than Casey was letting him.

"Ew, Sam, that's gross, he's my stepbrother." She said.

"You didn't think it was gross when you first met him, did you?" Sam asked, flashing another smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Casey asked, stopping what she was doing, and stared at him.

"Derek said that you liked him when you guys first met." Sam said.

"No, you didn't listen good enough. I liked _Ralph _who I thought was _Derek._" Casey said, rolling her eyes again.

"You liked Ralph!?" Sam said through a teasing laugh.

"Okay, do it yourself." Casey said, throwing a soda into his hands, and walked away.

"Case, I'm sorry." He called after her as she walked away, but she just shook her head and smiled.

-- -- --

"So I heard you almost kissed Derek." Sally said from her bed that was now in the room.

"Oh my God! I did not!" Casey yelled, shocked that Sam told her.

"You almost kissed Derek!?" Emily yelled.

"SSSSHHHHHH!" Casey yelled, slamming the door.

"I can't believe Sam told you!" She yelled, placing her hand on her forehead.

"Sam didn't tell me, Derek did." Sally said, confused.

"Derek told you???" Casey's eyes almost popped out of her head.

"I want to kiss Derek." Emily whined playfully.

"I know, me too." Sally said as they both laughed.

"Ew, guys, come on." Casey said, sitting down on Sally's bed, for hers wasn't put together yet.

"Its not fair!" Sally said through her smile as she sipped on her beer.

"I know… But I bet he'll try to kiss you again." Emily said, moving over to Sally's bed, and sitting next to Sally, and across from Casey.

"You think?" Casey asked, finally getting serious.

"Yea." Emily said.

"Are you gonna kiss him if he does?" Sally asked, taking another sip of her beer.

"I don't know, I never thought of Derek like that." Casey said, taking a deep breath, and trying to think.

"There's only one way to settle this." Sally said.

-- -- --

And that was how Sally, Emily, and Casey all ended up in a circle on the floor.

"Okay, explain this to me, again." Casey said, obviously confused.

"If the bottle lands on Emily, you can't kiss him. If it lands on me, you don't have to if you don't want to, and if it lands on you, you have to." Sally said through a smile.

"Alright… Go!" Emily yelled as Sally spun the bottle as good as she could.

Casey held her eyes shut tight as she heard the bottle spinning against the hardwood floor. It seemed like it would never come to a stop, and honestly, Casey wasn't sure if she wanted it to.

She finally heard it stop, and was waiting for the girls to say something, or squeal, but there was just silence.

She slowly opened her eyes, and when she did, she saw the bottle staring right at her.

"So I _have _to kiss him?" She asked, biting her lip.

"If he tires to kiss you." Sally said, picking up the bottle.

"Who's to say that he will, though?" Emily said when she realized how nervous Casey really was.

"Well, when they day comes, you just can't resist it." Sally said through a smirk.

"What will people say?" Casey wondered out loud.

"Its just the five of us, nobody will know." Sally said.

"What if it gets really serious?" Casey asked.

"I don't know if you should get really serious with Derek." Emily said.

"Yea, you can never completely trust those pretty eyes." Sally said, eating the last of the Doritos from the bag in her lap.

"But I thought that you and Derek were like, extremely serious?" Casey said to Sally.

"I was… I'm not so sure _he_ was." She confessed.


	3. I Haven't Spoken

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_Jenny screams out and it's no pose;  
'Cause when she dances she goes and goes.  
Beer through the nose on an inside joke,  
**I'm so excited, I haven't spoken...**_

Casey stared at Sally as she leaned on the kitchen counter, and popped grapes into her mouth. Sometimes Casey just couldn't stand her, the things she said made Casey wanted to rip her hair out, and the things she did gave her a headache.

But sometimes Casey wanted to be just like her, and she was jealous of her in every way.

What she said about Derek still lingered in her head. Derek seemed so serious about her back then, Casey was so unsure about everything, she wished that she knew everything that went on between them, she wanted to know the whole story, beginning to end.

She slowly walked over to her and took one of her grapes. "So, what ever happened with you and Derek, anyway?" Casey asked, taking a major risk, and putting it all on the line.

"You know how when I went away to school, he was so scared that when I got back, I would be over him?" She asked, swallowing a grape. Casey just nodded her head, and waited for her to speak again.

"Well, the roles were totally switched." Sally said, putting her hair up into a messing pony tail, using the rubber band around her wrist. she made a small 'ow' as the rubber band pulled her hair. "He had a new girlfriend, a new apartment, new friends... A completely diffrent life." Sally said.

Casey noticed how hard Sally was trying to brush it off, but she could tell how bad it hurt her.

"Are you over him?" Casey spilled out.

There was silence and Casey started to blush, she felt stupid for asking.

"Maybe." Sally said before walking away, leaving Casey hanging by a thread.

_**-- -- --**_

"Oh my God! I love this song!" Sally screamed as she flipped through the radio channels. She immediately hopped to her feet and started to dance in the middle of the living room floor. As the music bounced off of the empty walls, she spun around and around, watching her made Casey wish she had confidence like that.

She looked around the room, and saw that nobody was paying attention to her. Sam was unpacking a box, Derek was fixing the broken window, and Emily was painting the wall leading up the steps.

Casey wondered if Sally wanted them to pay attention. She wondered if maybe she was only dancing so that Derek would watch her shake her hips, and some how fall back in love with her. Or if maybe Sally was just doing it because that's what she liked to do, and she didn't care about what everybody else thinks.

Casey always wanted to become the girl who had everything, who didn't care what people thought, but they always thought good thoughts. She wanted to be the girl who the boys would have chased like she was a drug, she wanted to be the girl who had the beautiful long blond hair, and who told jokes that the boys actually laughed at... She wanted to be Sally.

"Come dance, Case." She said over the music, holding out her arm to Casey.

Should she shake her head no, and politely decline, or should she jump into the fun that she was having, and take the only chance she had to become that girl?

Before she knew it, she was dancing in sync with Sally, shaking her hips as she did, and throwing her arms over her head, the same time Sally did. As she twisted, turned, closed her eyes, and moved her body, she completely forgot where she was. She didn't care what people thought, she didn't care if Derek was watching, or Sam, or Emily. She just cared that she was having fun.

As the music began to die down, Sally slowly stopped dancing, along with Casey, and turned off the radio. "Oh my God, you're amazing." Sally said, out of breath, smiling over at Casey.

"Amazing at what?" Casey asked, pulling her long hair off of her neck.

"Dancing, stupid." Sally teased.

"Oh." Casey said, starting to blush. "Well, I used to take dance lessons when I was in middle school." Casey said.

"You should teach classes or something." Sally said, walking over to Sam, and helping him unpack.

"I don't think so." Casey said through a smirk, as she walked over to Derek, monitoring him as he attempted to fix the window. "Are you sure you're doing that right?" Casey asked as the window fell on Derek's hand, and he yelled into her ear.

"Would you like to give it a try, Princess??" Derek asked, obviously aggravated as he threw the screw driver at the wall.

"Derek, do you have your period?" Casey teased as he stormed off.

-- -- --

"Alright, I've been painting by myself for the past three hours, you guys need to help." Emily said, holding up a paint brush in front of the four as they sat on the couch, each holding a beer.

"Okay." Casey said, putting the bottle on the end table, and grabbing a paint brush out of a piant bucket.

"Coming...." Sally said.

Sam was already at the wall, starting to paint, and Derek slowly walked over with his beer.

"Why are you painting the whole house white? That's pointless." Derek said, staring at the wall.

"You're pointless, but I don't complain." Casey said, rolling her eyes.

Emily, Sam, and Sally chuckled, but Derek just stood still.

"I was thinking, maybe we could do the whole house white," Sally started. "Like, the furiture and everything." She said as she painted.

"That would be nice, but do you really think that would last with Derek living here?" Sam asked.

"For real, is picking on me the only thing you guys have to do?" Derek asked, obviously angry. Nobody said much after that, they just focused on painting.

-- -- --

"It looks great!" Emily said, clapping her hands together as the five stood in front of the wall, reviewing their work.

"I love it." Sally said through a smile.

"Yea," Sam said.

"I'm hungry." Derek said absentmindedly.

"Figures." Casey said under her breath, rolling her eyes.

They walked away, and all at once plopped down on the couch, and took a sip of their beers. They stared directly out in front of them, at the empty space.

"Gee, I really wish somebody would set up the TV." Casey said, looking at Sam and Derek.

"Tomorrow, I promise." Sam said, taking another sip.

"Why not now?" Sally said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a little drunk." Sam said bluntly.

"What about you, Derek?" Emily asked.

"I'm a lot drunk." He said with his eyes closed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sally asked. "Alright, I'm going to bed." She said.

"I'll help!" Derek yelled, getting up and walking behind her.

"Help me go to bed?" Sally asked through a laugh, and it was clear that Derek was definitely drunk.

"Yea." He said, his eyes still closed.

"No, Der, stay here." Sally said, pushing him back down on the couch. As he fell, he bumped into Emily's arm, causing her beer to spill all over Casey and Sam.

Sally laughed so hard, that she felt the beer coming back up, and out of her nose. "OW!" She screamed as he nose burned.

"HEY!" They all scream pushing Derek off between laughs.

"You're dead, Venturi!" Sam yelled, trying to catch him, but they were both stumbling all over the place, making the girl laugh hysterically.

After a few minutes of watching laughing, Emily turned to Casey. "Are you alright? You haven't said much all night." She said.

"I'm fine, just excited to start our new lives." Casey said through a smile.


	4. But Maybe I'm More Clever

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK !**

_She's so pretty, and she's so sure...  
**But; maybe I'm more clever than a girl like her.**_

"Good morning sunshine." Casey said as Derek walked into the kitchen, looking half alive.

"My head hurts." He mumbled.

"I bet it does." She said, rolling her eyes, and placing a bowl of oatmeal in front of him. "I'll get you an aspirin." She said, looking through the box sitting on the counter. "It would be a lot easier to find if _somebody _put it in the cabinet." Casey said, glaring at him over her shoulder.

"Look, me and Sam brought in all the boxes, it wont hurt you to put the stuff where it belongs." Derek mumbled into his hands.

"Here." Casey said, setting down a bottle of aspirin, and a glass of orange juice.

"What time is it?"

"About 9 o' clock." Casey said, sitting in the chair across from him. "You have work in an hour." She reminded him.

"Yea." He said, popping two aspirin into his mouth.

"Umm, Guys?" Emily said, walking into the kitchen. Her face looked like she had to say something that would make them mad, this scared Casey.

"What?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"We probably shouldn't paint when were drunk anymore." She said, biting her lip.

"Oh, God...." Casey whispered, putting her hand over her head. "What's it look like?" She asked, scared of the answer.

"Well, first off our paint wasn't white... It was light orange."

Casey held her eyes shut tight.

"But, Derek's, on the other hand _was _white." Emily said. "So there's a few spots that are white, a few spots that are orange, and we should definitely put down a tarp next time." She whispered.

Casey pushed her chair out of the table, and prepared for the worst, walking into the living room. As she opened her eyes, the first thing to come out of her mouth was, "Oh, Its horrible!"

The floor was covered in orange and white paint, along with the steps, and the wall was orange with white paint splatters all over it.

"No more drinking and painting in the dark." Sally said from behind them.

When Sam and Derek walked in, they couldn't help but laugh. It looked like a five year old broke into their house and painted for them. The girls were trying so hard not to laugh, they were giving it their all, but they just couldn't help it.

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Thanks for the ride." Sally said from the passenger seat.

"Anytime." Casey said through a smile. Even though she wasn't very fond of Sally, she was still nice to her, even if she didn't want to be.

She watched Sally from the corner of her eye. She watched as her hair blew back in the wind, she looked so pretty in her high heels and V-neck tank top and her hair down, and curly, as apposed to Casey in her green scrubs and tight bun.

"What do you think about me and Derek getting back together?" Sally asked her, bluntly.

"Um, I don't know." Casey said honestly. "Does he like you?" She asked, curiously.

"I'm sure of it." Sally said, smiling slyly.

Casey felt something in her heart, but she didn't know what it was. For some reason, she didn't want them back together. "I think its a great idea." She lied.

"Cool, so I was thinking, after I get out of work, I would go over to the school he's coaching at, and bring some dinner or something, and we can talk." Sally said, as they pulled up to the building Sally worked at.

"Sounds good." Casey said through her fake smile as Sally got out of the car and waved. She watched her walk to the building, and waited until she was inside, than pulled out her phone.

Casey wasn't going to let it happen. She wasn't going to let them get back together. Casey McDonald _always _went with her gut, and her gut just didn't feel right about them. She whipped out her phone and dialed a familiar number. Sally was pretty sure that this plan would work, but Casey was much more clever than she was.

"Hi, This is Casey McDonald.... I was just calling in sick today.... Yea, we were painting the house last night, and the paint fumes got really bad, apparently my friends never heard of a window... Yea, horrible headaches, and my stomach's a little upset." She lied to her boss, as she pulled out of the driveway. She really didn't even know if paint fumes could do that to her, but right now, she didn't care, it was the best she could think of. "I should be in tomorrow... Alright.... Bye." She said, then flipped the phone shut.

As soon as it disconnected, she opened it again, and dialed another number. "Hi, my name is Casey McDonald, I live with Derek Venturi.... Yes, at his new house... I was just calling in sick for him, he's really sick... Well, it's food poisoning, I take full responsibly, I'm not a very good cook...." She lied... again.

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Alright, boys, I'm leaving, try not to burn down the house." Emily said, grabbing her keys off of the table.

"Bye mom." Sam said sarcastically, and Derek rolled his eyes.

Once Emily was gone, Sam turned to Derek, who was sitting on the couch. "Don't you have work?" Sam asked.

"In a half hour." Derek said, turning on the TV.

"Same." Sam said, plopping down next to him. After a few minutes of silence between the two, Sam finally turned off the TV, and looked Derek into the eyes.

"Look, I know you don't want to talk about it, but what went on with you and Casey the other day?" Sam asked, and instantly Derek's cheeks turned pink.

"Dude, It weas nothing." He lied.

"D, I know you, It was something..." Sam said, not being able to hind the smirk from his lips, and soon enough, Derek was smirking too.

"It's not like she's my sister," Derek started. "I mean, we have barely seen each other since we went off to college, so I definitely don't see her that way anymore." Derek confessed.

"So how do you see her?" Sam asked, and the smile of Derek's face got bigger.

"As the hot girl who I am totally gonna have in less than a week." Derek said. "Two weeks tops."


	5. I Hold On To Your Secrets

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_The summer's all in bloom;  
The summer is ending soon .  
It's alright & it's nice not to be so alone...  
__**But I hold on to your secrets in white houses.**_

"Did Derek leave yet?" Casey asked Sam, as soon as she walked into the house.

Sam raised an eyebrow at her, and gave her a confused look. "He's right there." He said, pointing over her shoulder, and into the living room, where Derek was sitting on the couch. looking as confused as Sam.

Casey quickly whipped around and smiled at him, trying to catch her breath. "We need to talk.... Now." She said, then turned to Sam. "Alone."

Sam put his arms up and shook his head as he walked out of the room.

"I have work in like... 2 minutes." Derek said, looking at the clock on the wall. "No, you don't. I called out for you." Casey said, walking over to him, she could tell he was getting confused.

"Oh...Kay?" He whispered, following her with his eyes.

Casey plopped down next to him on the couch, and looked him in the eyes. This was the look she always gave him right before she talked her guts out, he knew it was coming.

"Look, You should have never almost kissed me the other day, because that really screwed up my mind! Now I can't do anything with out thinking about it, and Sally wants to get back together with you, and I don't like that idea... Plus the girls told me that if you tried to kiss me again, I'd have to kiss you back... And I want to, but I don't know because you're still my stepbrother... but I'm really starting like you, even though I hate you, like, all the time, and you have the maturity of an 8 year old. Then, for you to pretend that you didn't almost kiss me, and then just go on like everything is fine... Is not fine! All you care about is yourself! Which isn't fair! Because I'm over here, busting my ass to make you happy and make you notice me as more than just CASEY!" She screamed, loud and fast.

"Case!" Derek yelled, clapping his hand over her mouth. "You over think everything." He whispered, as he slowly took his hand off of her. "And if you knew what I thought about _'Just Casey',_ you probably wouldn't mind so much." He said, raising his eye brows, and resting his head on his hand.

Casey took a deep breath and made a small smile. "What do you think about 'Just Casey'?" She asked, in a small voice, almost a whisper.

"Well, first of all, she isn't _Just _Casey." He said, running his fingers through his hair. "She's smart, and beautiful, and funny (when she doesn't try to be.) She gives 100% at everything she does, and puts her heart out to everyone... Which I definitely can't do." He whispered.

"Well, could you put it out for me?" She whispered.

"I'll try." He whispered back, before, not 'almost' kissing her, but actually doing it, this time.

"Oh, and by the way, tell Sally I went to work, and you called out yourself."

-- -- --

"The summer's almost over." Casey said through a frown.

"I know, it feels like it's still the beginning though." Sam said from the kitchen, with a bite of turkey sandwich in his mouth.

"It was fun while it lasted." Derek said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I hate the winter." Casey said honestly.

All eyes turned to the door as it flung open, then flung shut. They all watched Sally walk into the room with anything but a happy face on. "Derek!? Why were you not at work today??" Sally asked angrily.

"Didn't feel like it." Derek liked, not taking his eyes off of the TV.

"Well, go tomorrow." She said, stubbornly.

"Okay?" Derek said.

Not a minute later, the door flung open again, this time revealing Emily standing there, looking even more unhappy than Sally.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked, getting off of the couch.

"We need a house meeting." Were the only words to leave Emily's mouth.

-- -- --

They all sat in a circle in the middle of the floor, it reminded them of Jr. High when they would play stupid kissing games, if only life was that simple anymore.

"Alright...this...is the talking stick." Emily said, holding up a large Popsicle stick with glitter and sequins glued all over it.

"Why do we need that?" Derek asked, obviously confused.

"Because you always feel the need to talk over people." Emily said with a mean smile. "Now, moving on…" She said, taking a deep breath. "When we have house meetings, everything said in this circle, never leaves this circle… A circle cannot be formed unless every member of the house is in it… Anybody is aloud to call a house meeting, and when somebody does, we all have to drop everything we are doing, and come… When you have the talking stick, you're the only on who can talk, when you're done, you put it down, and everybody can talk until somebody else picks it up… A house meeting cannot be called when there are guests over... We can talk about things that are bothering us, or house probalems... what ever is on your mind... And I repeat, ONLY THE PERSON HOLDING THE STICK CAN TALK! Understood?" She asked, and everybody nodded their head.

She took a deep breath and let it out as she closed her eyes. "A lot has been on my mind lately… This guy, who I used to love…a lot… called me yesterday, and he wants to get together again. I really want to, but I'm scared that he's going to hurt me again…" Emily said, then put the stick in the middle of the circle.

"Don't go." Casey said, shaking her head.

"Bring him over, we should meet him." Sally said.

"Let me and Sam talk to him, than he wont hurt you." Derek said through a smirk.

"Yea, I like Derek's idea." Sam smiled.

Casey picked up the stick again, and held it up, making everybody shut up. "What did he do to you?" She asked, than handed Emily the stick.

"He cheated, lied, and just completely was a horrible boyfriend." She said honestly, than put the stick in the middle of the circle.

"Don't Go." Everybody said together.

"Its not worth it." Casey said.

"Yea, he'll just hurt you again." Sally said, putting a hand on Emily's shoulder.

"Once a cheater…" Sam started.

"Always a cheater…" Derek finished.

"You would know." Sally whispered under her breath, but the only one to hear her was Casey.

Emily picked up the stick again. "You guys don't understand, I was so I love with him." She said, then dropped the stick.

"But was he in love with you?" Casey said, picking it up immediately.

"I don't know." Emily whispered, but quickly changed the subject. "I love having somebody to talk to now... It's nice not to be so alone." She said through a small smile.

She gave everybody a quick hug, and walked out of the room, as did everybody else.

"I like the idea, but why does the talking stick have to be so girly?" Derek asked Sam, holding up the stick.


	6. We Were All In Love & We All Got Hurt

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_Maybe I'm a little bit over my head;  
I come undone at the things he said,  
And he's so funny in his bright red shirt...  
**We were all in love and we all got hurt.**_

Casey sat on the floor, in front of the mirror that leaned against the wall as she put on her make up. It's been about a week since Derek and her kissed, all they seem to be doing is sending flirty looks at each other, and kissing every time Sally wasn't looking. A part of Casey felt sorry for Sally, she _did _really love Derek, but Casey was beginning to like him too, and things were really starting to heat up between them.

Sally was the only one who didn't know about Casey and Derek. Casey liked to tell her self that it was because she wasn't best friends with either of them, Casey told Emily everything, and Derek told Sam everything. Of course, that wasn't the _real _reason she didn't know, but it made her feel better to avoid the fact that she is with one of her friend's crush.

_**-- -- --**_

"Why are you putting on make up?" She heard a familiar voice say from the door way. She looked at him through the mirror and smiled.

"Because I'm going to work?" She said as she watched him sit on the bed next to her.

"You don't need it." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "You look perfect without it." He said. He knew it was corny, but he had to admit, Casey was really turning him into a huge cheeseball.

"Aww." She said through a smile as she tilted her head sideways. "Thank you." She whispered, before planting a small kiss on his cheek. "Now go to work, you're gonna be late." She said, pushing him out of the room.

Soon after he left, Emily walked in to find a giant smile on Casey's face. "Oh my God, Em!!!" Casey said, grabbing her wrists, and jumping up and down like a child. "He's soooo sweet. Totally not like the Derek I used to know!" She said, sitting Emily down on the bed.

"You look so happy." Emily said with a chuckle.

"I am." Casey said honestly through a smile.

"That's good. I hope you guys stay together, if you're really this happy." Emily said.

_**-- -- --**_

As Casey walked into the living room, she let out a relieved sigh as she saw Derek painting the wall. "Is this your painting shirt?" She asked, pinching the bright red shirt he was wearing.

"Yea, why?" He asked, looking down at it.

"It's ugly." She said honestly.

"Hey! This used to be my favorite shirt!" He yelled defensively.

"It's pink!" She said through a laugh.

"It is _not._ It's bright red!" He yelled, rolling his eyes.

She laughed and shook her head, crossing her arms.

"I'll take this." She said, taking the beer bottle from his hands. "Didn't you learn your lesson from last time?" She asked.

"It's only one beer, I wont get drunk." He said, taking it back.

"One beer leads to two beers." She said, taking it from his hands, once again. "And two beers lead to three." She said through a smile.

"And three beers lead to the back seat of my car." She said with a wink and a smirk.

This made Casey feel uncomfortable, and Derek could tell. His smile soon faded, and he went back to painting.

"I'm just gonna... Put this in the... Kitchen." She said awkwardly before turning and walking to the kitchen. She put the beer in the fridge and quickly walked into her bed room where she knew Emily was.

"Emily! Oh my God!" She said as she jumped on the bed next to her, this time, she didn't look so happy.

"What?" Emily asked groggily as she woke up.

"Derek wants to have sex!" She said loud enough to sound scared, but quiet enough for only Emily to hear.

"So?" She asked, putting her hands over her face.

"I'm still a virgin." Casey whispered, and Emily's eyes show open as sat up.

"You're kidding, right!?" She asked.

"No." Casey whispered.

"You're 21." She said with a teasing smile.

"I'm saving myself until marriage." Casey said.

"Oh, well, that makes more sense. You should have said that first." She said, letting herself fall back. "I still cant believe that, though." Emily said, shaking her head and staring at the ceiling. "What about Sam, or Max, or Noel...?" Emily asked, but Casey just shook her head. "Wow." She whispered. "Not even oral?"

"Emily!" Casey yelled, throwing a pillow at her head.

"Okay, Okay, I'm sorry." Emily said.

"Well, what do I do?" She asked.

"Just tell him." Emily said, like it was no big deal.

"Easy for you to say." Casey whined as she fell back onto the bed.

_**-- -- --**_

_"HOUSE MEETING!"_ Bounced around the walls of the house at 7:25 PM.

Emily and Casey stopped playing cards, and headed into the living room.

Derek stopped painting, and sat on the floor.

Sam stopped making his sandwich, and sat down with everybody.

"Thank you." Sally said as she took her spot on the floor. "Talking stick please." She said, as Derek pulled a stick out of his pocket, and handed it to her.

"This isnt the talking stick?" She said, looking into her hand.

"Me and Sam thought the talking stick too girly." He said.

"It's a mini hockey stick????" Sally said, holding it up.

The girls rolled their eyes, and Sam and Derek shared a high five.

"Anyway..." Sally said, taking a deep breath. "I Don't feel like were close enough." She said, holding up the stick higher as they started to talk. "So, as I pass around the stick, everybody is going to tell us about your first experience with love." Sally said with a smile. "I'll go first." She said.

"Well... The first time I ever experienced love was in the 8th grade. I had my first kiss, his name was Jason.... He was so sweet, and so nice, I really thought that he was my soul mate... Until he dumped me for my best friend." Sally said, handing the stick to Emily.

"Alright, well, the first time I loved was with the guy we were talking about yesterday... I loved him more than anything. My days consisted of waiting for his calls and counting the days until our next date... But sooner or later the sparks faded and he was so mean... All he ever did was hurt me, and was horrible to me, then he would tell me he loved me, it just didn't make sense to me..." She said as she passed the stick to Sam.

"The first time I was in love, was with, believe it or not...You, Casey." Sam said, nodded his head at Casey. Normally, this would be awkward, but Sam and Casey have become so close. "But, I had to respect Derek's 'Male Code'." He said, passing the stick to Casey.

"Aww, Sam." Casey said through a smile. She was happy that they could be friends, now. And got over that. "The first time I ever loved anybody was in 7thgrade... I was only 13." She said. "I had no idea what love was, but for some reason, I fell so hard. Everything I did, it somehow had something to do with him... He tried and tried and tried to pressure me into sex, and it was getting so hard... I was only 13." She whispered. "After he dumped me. I felt like shit. But I told me mom about it and she told me that sex doesn'talways make a relationship better, actually with younger people, it sometimes makes it worse, so I made a vow, to myself, no sex before marriage." Casey said, passing the stick to Derek.

"I have nothing to say." He said, before dropping the stick in her lap and walking away.


	7. We Were All In Love & We All Got Hurt 2

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

"I just shared something I never shared with anybody, and you run away like that!?" She yelled as she slamed the bed room door behind her.

"You know that would have been a nice thing to metion before we got together... 'My favorite hoilday is Christmas,_ 'I don't smoke, I like to read, I'll never have sex with you.'_" Derek said sarcasticly.

"I didn't say never!" She yelled, tears coming to her eyes.

"I don't do tears." He quickly reminded her. "Just like you dont do anybody." He said, rolling his eyes.

"God, why do you have to be such a jerk!? There is more to life than just sex!" She yelled, fighting the tears.

There was silence for a few seconds. All Casey could hear was Sam and Emily trying to distract Sally in the hallway, and Derek's breathing.

"If you liked me like you say you do, than it wouldnt be so hard." He whispered.

"What do you mean _'like I say I do?'_" Casey asked, finnaly letting the tear slide down her cheek.

"This house isn't that big, Case. I can hear you and Emily." Derek said, like she was stupid.

"I like you alot." She whispered.

"Then just do it."

_**-- -- --**_

"Thanks for distracting Sally." Casey whispered as she walked into their room.

"Why are you whispering?" Emily said, looking up from her magizene.

"Derek can hear us, aparently." She whispered, rolling her eyes. She popped a chip into her mouth, and looked over Sally's shoulder. "Arent you a little old for Seventeen?" She asked, walking over to her bed.

"No." Emily shot back. "... Alright, maybe a little... But I like it." She said through a smile. Casey just chuckled, and fell back on her bed as she let out a sigh.

"You guys were in there forever." Emily said, not taking her eyes off of the magazene.

"We didn't have sex, if thats what you're thinking." Casey said, looking at her in the corner of her eye.

"Man." Emily hissed.

"You wanted us to?" Casey asked, a little confused as she sat up.

"Me and Sam had a bet. He just won 50 bucks." She said, but Casey just rolled her eyes.

"I'm glad you guys care about my feelings." She said sarcasticly.

"Casey, listen..." Emily said, crawing off her bed, and on to Casey's, which was right next to her's. "You see sex as a thing of love... But really, it's just a physcial thing. Nothing serious." Emily said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You have a stable home where were forced to get along no matter what, so it's not like you guys will break up. Your life is on track, you guys live together, spilt the rent, and all the other stuff married people do... You pretty much _are_ married."

Casey was silent, and Emily could tell she was thinking.

"Do it or forever wish you had." Emily whispered.

_**-- -- --**_

"I'm stressed." Casey said bluntly as she walked into the kitchen. She could talk as loud as she wanted because Derek, Sally, and Emily were food shopping.

"About...?" Sam asked, playing stupid.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Casey asked, tilting her head to the side.

Sam sighed and took a bite of his hotdog. "Want my adivice?" He asked.

Casey nodded her head, and sat next to him.

"My advice, is to not take my advice... Or anybody's." Sam said, raising his eyebrows. "Do what _you_ want, not _Derek_... Or _Sally_... Or _Emily_... Or _me_. Just **you**."

"I'm 21 years old... I might as well just do it, and get it over with." She said.


	8. Boy Were Going Too Fast

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_I sneak into his car's cracked leather seats,  
The smell of gasoline in the summer heat  
**Boy, we're going way too fast;**_

"Beer!" Derek yelled as Sam walked in with a 40 pack of beer.

"Yay." Sally said through a smile, clapping her hands together and jumping like a child.

"It's amazing how excited we get over beer." Casey said through a chuckle as she opened the pack. She threw a beer to everyone, and took out one for herself, as she put the others in the fridge. "It's not even cold." She said, sticking her tongue out and making a disgusted face after taking a sip.

"Oh well, its still beer." Emily said through a smile.

"Maybe were alcoholics." Sally joked.

"Nah... Were just young." Sam said, and they all put their cans in the air, as they crashed them together.

**_-- -- --_**

The music was turned all the way up, and the lights were dimmed, making it feel like a party between the five of them. As they jumped up and down to the beat of the music, they laughed and joked. They were all too drunk to notice the beer spilled all over the hardwood floor, and just laughed when Sally slipped and fell. If she were sober, that fall would have _killed _her ankle, but when she's drunk, it's like she's made of steel.

As the music pumped through Casey's chest, it was almost hard to breath, but it made her adrenalin rush throughout her body. As Derek moved closer to her, he started to grind his body on her's. In the beginning, Casey felt uncomfortable. Thoughts of them being family flashed through her mind, it grossed her out more than anything. "Derek, this is wrong." She yelled into his ear, over the music.

"Come outside, we'll talk." Derek yelled, pulling her out of the house by her arm.

"Where are they going?" Sally asked over the music, but Sam and Emily just shrugged their shoulders, and did their best to keep her in the house.

_**-- -- --**_

"It's wrong..." She slurred, as Derek still hung on to her wrist.

"Its perfectly fine." Derek said, carelessly throwing his arms in the air. "You're hot, I'm hot... It's natural attraction."

Casey giggled as Derek led her to 'the prince'. "I'm so drunk." Derek said bluntly.

"Same here." Casey said, holding her breath to keep from throwing up. "You shouldn't drive." Casey slurred as Derek led her closer to the car.

"Don't worry. Were not going anywhere." He whispered slyly as he helped her into the back seat.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this." Casey whispered between kisses as she laid back on the cracked leather seat.

"Shhh." Derek whispered, shutting her up with kisses.

The smell of summer, and hot gasoline ran through Casey's nose as she felt Derek unbutton her shirt. "This is wrong." She whispered. "I'm drunk.. We should wait." She whispered, with her eyes shut. She was so out of it, Derek was almost turned off.... _Almost._

"It's fine, Case." He said, obviously aggravated as he pealed her shirt off of her back, and undid her bra. As her breasts fell out of the bra, he felt more uncomfortable than ever, but she had to suck it up, for Derek.

"Alright." She whispered through a sly smile as she pulled his shirt over her head. As she unbuttoned his pants, he lifted up her skirt, and waisted no time pulling down her panties.

She quickly jerked his pants down, along with his boxers. "This is it." She whispered.

_"Agh."_As she felt Derek slide into her, there was a short burst, that burned all the way down to her toes, it made her catch her breath, that, on top of the cracked leather digging into her back, the uncomfortableness she was feeling, and all the beers were too much to handle."Ow, Derek, that hurt." She whispered, putting her hands on his chest, and pushing him back slightly.

"It's okay, it will get better." He whispered, kissing her neck.

He was right, it did hurt less as he moved in and out, She felt less pain, but no pleasure. She didn't like it, not at all. _She just wanted it to be over._

She held her breath and closed her eyes as tight as she could. When she couldn't hold her breath anymore, she bit her lip, so hard that it made it bleed.

She could hear the music from the back ground as the taste of blood ran on her tongue. She wished she was somewhere else, she regretted this so much, but she didn't want to let Derek down she held on as much as she could, and tried her best to look like she was enjoying it.

It wasn't like in the movies, all sexy and heated. They were in the back of the prince, for God's shake. She just wished she would have waited. She's never felt more regret in her life, everything was wrong right now. What would her mother say? What would George say? What about Marti, Edwin and Lizzie? What if they all hated her?

She didn't dare to open her eyes, she was scared and embarrassed. Everybody else in the world enjoyed sex, why was she the only one who didn't? What was wrong with her?

She felt horrible. She felt disgusted. She felt uncomfortable. She felt like she was going to throw up.... _She was going to throw up._

"GET OFF!" She screamed, clapping her hand over her mouth and pushing Derek off of her. She watched Derek fall to the floor of the car, and ran out as fast she could. She ran through the front lawn, which needed an over-due mowing.

She ran for what seemed like minutes, but were only seconds. She hit the wet grass and before she knew it, she was throwing up all of the beers she had drank earlier. She quickly squinted her eyes as the front porch light went on.

It was still dark out, but the light made it seem like she was three inches away from the sun.

She slowly started to hear the music die down, and whispers coming from the porch.

She saw three shadows standing on the porch, which she assumed were Emily, Sam, and Sally.

"Oh my God." Sally whispered, clapping both of her hands over her mouth.

As Casey opened her eyes, and started to get used to the light, she started to realize more of what was going on.

She was laying in the fron lawn, it was 4 AM, she was no longer a virgin, and she was flashing the whole neighborhood.

"Don't look!" Emily yelled to Sam, slapping his shoulder. He quickly shut his eyes, and turned around. She watched as Emily ran out to her. "Oh my God. Casey, are you okay?" She whispered, sitting her up, and whipping the hair out of her eyes.

"No." Casey managed to slur out.

"It's alright. Listen, I'm going to get Sam to bring you in, He wont look, I promise." Emily said, waving for Sam to come over.

Sam slowly walked over to her, than took her into his arms. "Don't look." Emily reminded him.

Normally, Sam would sneak a peak at Casey's chest, and dish about it with Derek the next day, but they all knew it was so much more serious than that.

Casey slowly opened her eyes, and saw Derek in the back seat of the car. Somehow, he had managed to put on his boxers. He had his head in his hands, and Casey could tell she had let him down.

"It's gonna be okay." Sally whispered as she walked with Sam, Emily, and Casey. She gently rubbed Casey's arm and whipped her hair out of her face, like Emily did.

"Are you mad?" Casey whispered, in such a small voice, she almost didn't want Sally to hear.

"No... It's alright." Sally whispered.

Sam slowly, and gently laid Casey down in her bed, and walked to the doorway. He pulled his shirt over his head, and threw it at Emily. "Put that on her." Sam said.

Emily quickly slid the shirt over Casey's head, then began to walk out of the room along with Sally and Sam.

"No..." Casey whispered. "Don't leave me."


	9. It Was All Too Sweet To Last

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_**It's all too sweet to last...**_

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, then quickly shut when she felt the light from the sun. She slowly turned her body around, then opened them again, now that she wasn't facing the window.

She felt something pounding on her head, like a jackhammer. She quickly put her head in her hands, and sucked her teeth.

"Headache?" She heard Sam say, standing above her. His voice boomed through her body. "God, Sam. Do you have to talk so loud!?" She said, into her hands.

He rolled his eyes, and handed her an aspirin, with a glass of gringeralle.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she took them from his hands.

"It's alright." He said, this time not as loud as he sat down next to her, on the bed.

"Please tell me last night was a dream." She whispered, as soon as she was completely woken up, and swallowed the aspirin and gingeralle.

Sam was silent. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Damnit." She cursed under her breath. "Why I so stupid, Sam!? I made the biggest mistake of my life! I never make mistakes... That was my first one!" She yelled, running coming to her eyes.

"You're the smartest person I know, and everyone makes mistakes, Case." Sam said, taking back the glass.

"Not me! Everyone expects the best from me... I'm Casey.. Not..." Casey took a deep breath.

"Derek?" Emily finished for her, at the doorway.

"That's not what I was going to say." She whispered, and pointed at the door, telling Emily to shut it.

"Yes, it was." Emily said, sighing and shutting the door before walking over to the bed. "You've spent so much of your life being compared to Derek..." She said.

"Yea, and I hate it." Casey confessed.

"How do you think he feels? At least you were the better one..." Sam butted in, But Casey didn't want to talk about this right now. That was a whole other conversation, She changed the subject as fast as she could.

"Does Sally hate me?" Casey asked, changing the subject.

"A little bit... But Case, you have to understand, if you were in her place, you wouldn't be too happy either." Emily said.

"I didn't want it to end up like this." Casey whispered.

"I know... But life happens." Sam said.

"Does Derek hate me?" She asked, a little more concerned.

"No." Sam said. "He hates himself." He said, looking down at his feet.

"Why???" Casey asked, her eyes almost popping out of her head.

"You _threw up_...." Sam said, obviously.

Casey sighed and put her hands over her face. "I'm more embarrassed than anything." She whispered. "I feel like I let him down." She whispered.

"Casey! Don't say that! This is all his fault!" Emily yelled.

"It is _not_!" Sam yelled, defending his best friend, who wasn't there to defend himself.

"Umm, yea, it is!?" Emily said, as if he were stupid. "He _knew _she was drunk!" Emily yelled.

"He was drunk too!" Sam yelled.

"SHUT UP!" Casey yelled, clapping her hands over her ears. "I'm am battling the world's wrost hang over after the wrost night of my life, and I cant even leave this room without being reminded of it, so all I'm asking is if you guys will please...." Casey then turned her voice into a whiper. "Shut up." She whispered with her eyes closed.

"Sorry." Sam and Emily both said at the same time.

"What are we going to do?" Casey asked.

-- -- --

"HOUSE MEETING!" Casey yelled, once her hang over had worn off.

Everybody slowly, and awkwardly shuffled into the living room, and sat in a circle, this time, they weren't so close. There were spaces in between each of them, a foot long, _at least._

As Casey picked up the tiny hockey stick, she kept her head down and didn't dare look into Derek's eyes.

"I'm sure everybody is aware of what went on last night..." Casey started, in more of a whisper.

Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw everyone nod.

"First, to Emily and Sam... Thank you, I really mean it, You guys helped me recover pretty well... And also, sorry for flashing you...And the rest of the block." She took a deep breath, but still kept her head down.

"Sally, I wanted to say sorry. I -we- shouldn't have been sneaking around like that behind you're back, and it was wrong... We broke the 'no secrets' rule, and it was unfair to not only you, but everybody." Casey whispered.

"Derek, do you have anything to say?" Casey whispered after a few minutes of silence.

"Yea." He said, not bothering to take the stick from her hands.

-- -- --

_"I'm sorry." _Was all he said before he walked out of the door, and left her hanging by a thread. As Sally, Sam, and Emily saw tears come to Casey's eyes, they got concerned.

"Casey, whats the matter?" Sally asked, placing a hand on her back.

"He's never said he was sorry to me before..."

-- -- --

This was serious. It wasn't like a simple mistake that Casey or Derek had made. This was huge. How were they supposed to live with eachother after this? This was a _mistake._

All of the happiness, all of the secret romance high, all of the passion, it was all too sweet too last.


	10. In White Houses

**ATTENTION: I know most of them didn't meet until they were AT LEAST 15, but please try to use your imagination? (:**

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_It's alright, and I put myself in his hands,  
But I hold on to your secrets in **White Houses.**_

"I know this is probably a bad time to talk about this, but something needs to be said." Sally said, swinging open the bedroom door, and revealing Casey laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Whats wrong?" She asked. Her voice was weak and shaky, but she tried her best to have a normal conversation, without somebody asking her if she needs a hug.

"I can't do this _white house_ thing..." Sally started, as she plopped down on the bed next to her, but Casey just slowly turned her head to her, and she could immediately tell that Casey had no clue what she was talking about.

"You know, how like, everything in the house is white??? I don't like it... It's boring." Sally said.

"It's elegant!" Casey called out, defensively.

"Yea, if you're 90." Sally said, rolling her eyes.

Apart of Casey wanted to scream at her... Didn't she know how bad Casey was feeling right now?

But the other part wanted to thank her... For being the only person to treat her the same, which she had been begging for.

"I'm sorry." Sally said through a sigh, and a half-hearted smile. "But seriously, will it hurt to just add a bit of color?" She asked, holding out her arms like a child.

Casey couldn't help it, her hurt and brokenness was beginning to come back, along with the tears. "Do you know why I liked the color white?" She asked in a small voice, turning her head back to the window.

"No?" Sally raised an eyebrow.

She didn't think Sally would take it seriously, but she kept going, just for the sake of making conversation, and getting it all out.

"Not just because it was elegant... Because it was pure, and innocent... You know, because were still young." Casey said, but apparently Sally cared a lot more than she thought.

"Casey, were _not _young... We just graduated for God's sakes." Sally said, but both were silent for a few minutes. "That toast, that Sam made the other day... That was a bunch of shit, Case. We pretend to be young so that we don't have to face the responsibly of being adults.... When you're a kid, you can blame your stupidity on your age, But when you're as old as we are... Were just... Stupid. There's no excuses this time around." She said. She waited for a reaction from Casey, but her facial expression never changed as she looked out of the window.

She watched the tree in the side yard blow in the summer wind, a sign that it was ending soon. Behind the thees, the daylight was falling into a mixture of evening, causing a purplish/pinkish texture.

As she looked down on the ground, she saw Derek's car pull up beside the bright green grass that Sam had cut this morning. She watched as he got out of the car, slamming the door, and running his finger's through his hair. As he began to walk towards the walk way, leading to the steps, that led to the door, he disapprovingly shook his head at the pieces of grass Sam didn't sweep up, and left on the sidewalk.

She heard his footsteps coming up the walkway, and even after he disappeared under the awning, she still heard them, right up until she heard his keys, and front door slam.

"You're right." She whispered, finally. She didn't bother holding back the tears. She just let them fall, she didn't care if she looked broken, if she looked hurt, or destroyed, she just didn't care. "You're so right." She forced out.

"But you know what, Case?" Sally asked, crawling off of her bed, and on to Casey's. "It's a whole new adventure, being grown up... This is what we dreamed about when we were little girls...Remember?... We would set up little play weddings... Sam and Derek would be the grooms, sometimes we would let Ralph play..." Sally said, as she watched the smile slowly came to Casey's face.

"_Sometimes_." Casey reminded her. "He used to try to kiss us." Casey said through a tiny chuckle.

"And you _swore _he was going to go to hell for it..." Sally laughed... and soon Casey joined into the laughter.

"And when Derek was sick... I made you be the groom..." Emily said as she walked into the room, causing Casey a full blown fit of laughter.

"You hated me for a month..." Emily said, starting to laugh harder.

"You made me wear a bow tie!" Casey yelled between laughs.

"Oh, it looked good." Emily joked, sitting down on her bed.

As the laughter died down, Casey couldn't believe that her sad tears were now tears from laughing so hard. "I hate you guys." She teased as she whipped the tears from her eyes.

"Awww! I love you too!" Emily said, throwing her arms around Casey.

"Casey... Stop taking this thing so serious... It will get better I promise." Emily said, once the laughter was gone.

"And if it doesn't?" Casey asked, almost regretting having to bring it up again, she wanted to continue laughing, and talking about the happy times.

"It will..." She heard a deep voice say from the doorway.

"Hi Sam." She whispered.

"Feeling better?" He asked, sitting on Emily's bed, which was next to the one all three girls were sitting on.

"Slightly." She said, running her fingers through her hair.

"_Slightly_!?... Sam, These tears are from laughing so hard!" Sally said to Sam, taking Casey's head and pointing at her eyes, which were wet, along with her cheeks.

"See. It gets better with time." He said.

"Emily! Phone!" They heard Derek call up the steps, Just the sound of his voice gave Casey goosebumps.

"Probably my mom." Emily said before hoping off of the bed, and skipping down the steps.

"I'm hungry, I'm gonna get something to eat. You guys alright?" Sally asked, getting off of the bed.

Casey and Sam just nodding their heads as Sally left the room. "Come sit with me." Casey whispered, patting the bed.

Sam slowly moved off of Emily's bed and laid next to Casey with his hands behind his head, and Casey's folding on her chest.

"I think you're the only normal one in this house." Casey said, looking over to him.

"How so?" He asked, through a chuckle.

"Well, I'm screwed up beyond repair, along with Derek. Sally hates me, but pretends to like me, and Emily is always all rainbows and butterflies, and too blind to see that the world is _not _a happy place." She whispered, her eyes never leaving Sam's.

"And what about me?" He asked.

"Well, you're just..." Casey started.

"Boring." Sam finished.

"No!" Casey immediately said, pointing a finger in his face. "You're an amazing guy, Sam. And your deserve somebody who is just as amazing." She whispered.

She slowly turned to her side, and placed an arm around Sam's waist, as he took a hand from behind his head, and put it around Casey's shoulder.

"Would it be totally wrong if I wanted to kiss you right now?" She whispered.

"No."

"Can you keep secret?" Casey asked through a smile.


	11. It's More Common Than You Think

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_Love, or something ignites in my veins  
And I pray it never fades in white houses.  
My first time, hard to explain,  
Rush of blood, oh, and a little bit of pain  
**On a cloudy day, it's more common than you think...**_

As their lips gently touched, Casey felt something inside of her. Something telling her this was wrong, but another voice telling her that this is what she wanted. She had already had her first time, it doesn't matter what she does now. It's not like it was a big moment in her life anymore, right?

Was it love? No. But it was something, something that made her feel like she was worth something, not just a piece of meat. Sam made her number one, even when she should have been last on his priority list. The feeling she got with Sam was so much different from the one she got with Derek.

With Derek she felt weird, and out of place but with Sam, she felt like she belonged right where she was, tangled up in Sam's arms... With his tongue down her throat.

Casey acted on her mind, in stead of her heart (which was begging her to run to Derek) and slowly guided her hands under Sam's shirt.

"Whoa, Case, slow down." Sam said, pulling her arm out of his shirt.

She instantly broke away and took a deep breath. "You're right. I'm stupid. I don't know what I was thinking." She said, closing her eyes and placing her hand over her forehead.

Sam gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "No, you're not, and I wish you would stop saying that... I like you, a lot, and I really want to do this, I just don't think this is the best time... For you." He whispered, gently stroking her arm.

"Sam..." Casey whispered, placing a finger over his mouth. "I'm fine, and you talk too much." She teased seductively.

Casey quickly moved her body over Sam's, and before she knew it, she was laying on top of him, kissing his neck, and getting lower and lower.

She just wanted to go faster. She didn't want to stop. It wasn't love, it was lust. It was in her veins, begging her not to slow down. She prayed it didn't fade, this feeling was amazing. It was great.

Even though it wasn't her first time, in a way, it felt like it. It was hard to explain.

She felt the blood rush through her, and maybe it was wrong. Having sex with Sam, while Derek was just a floor below them.

As Sam slid inside of her, there wasn't a lot of pain, like before. Just a little, and it got better faster. She finally found what it was like to have sex and enjoy it.

_**-- -- --**_

"It was so nice out, like, 3 seconds ago." Emily said, looking out of the kitchen window.

"It still is." Derek said from the stove where he was cooking chocolate chip pancakes.

"Nah, it's all cloudy." Sally said, looking over Emily's shoulder.

"So, why are you making pancakes a 5 PM?" Emily asked, turning around in her chair.

"Their my favorite... And they make me happy." Derek said honestly, as he flipped the pancake.

"You're weird." Sally teased, poking her finger into the back of his head as she walked behind him.

"That's what makes me so cute." Derek said through a sly smirk.

"Hmmm, so true." Sally flirted, which immediately made Derek feel uncomfortable.

Sally noticed, and stopped, taking her place at the table.

"Hey, guess what I read on line today." Emily said, taking a bite of her Elio's pizza.

"What?" Derek asked absentmindedly as he transferred the pancakes to a paper plate.

"After women are raped, they become very promiscuous." Emily asked, with a mouth full of food.

"Are you saying a _raped_ Casey?" Derek asked, quickly turning around.

"No, but it's kinda like the same thing." Emily said, shrugging her shoulders.

"It is _not_." Derek said, dropping the plate at the table.

"The point is... When girls have a been first time, they have sex with everybody." Emily said through a sigh.

"Emily, just stop." Sally said, judging by the look on Derek's face.

"It's alot more common than you think." Emily said, just to get the last word in.


	12. He's My First Mistake

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_He's my first** mistake**;_

It was two AM. It was hot, but breezy; the kind of nights Casey used to love. The wind blew through the window, and hit Casey's face, making her tears cold.

She cried harder and let out a small whimper, but she tried so hard to hold it in. If she were to wake up anybody in the house, she would have to explain.

Emily and Sally were sleeping in the living room. They had fallen asleep watching American Idol on the couch.

"Still crying?" So much for not waking anybody up.

"Derek, I don't wanna talk to you right now." She said, putting her face in her hands.

"You never wanna talk to me, Case. I'm tried of you always running away." Derek said, in a not-so-quiet voice.

"Derek! Please! Just leave!" She yelled through her tears.

"No Casey! I wanna talk! I want you to tell me why you think I'm such a horrible person! I didn't do anything to you!"

"You didn't do anything to me!? Derek! You _ruined _me!" She screamed, forcing every word out of her lungs. She didn't care anymore about waking them up. To hell with them right now.

"You wanted to, Casey!? I didn't rape you!" He screamed, even louder, over her voice.

"I _hate _you! My God, Derek! I should have known! You're just the same _child _you have always been! Stupid of me to think that you actually changed!" She screamed as she shuffled off of the bed.

"That's why we didn't work out! Because all you ever wanted to do was change me!" He screamed sticking his finger in her face.

"Well that's not such a bad thing, considering you are... _You!_" She yelled, slapping her finger away. "And did you ever think that maybe I thought of you more as an annoying brother!?" She yelled.

Derek lowered his voice. "Well, it's a little late for that don't you think!?" Derek took a deep breath and waited for her to say something, but she was still and quiet.

"You know what, Casey. I hate you too." He whispered, nodding his head as he breathed heavily.

"I hate everything about you. _Everything_, Derek. I hate the way you talk, the way you walk. I hate you're voice when you're angry; It's scary and annoying. I hate the fact that you think you're God's gift to earth. I hate that you act so manly, but in the end you're just a wimp! You're scared! Scared of loving somebody!" She screamed, then turned her voice into a whisper; "You're my first mistake." She whispered.

"YOU'RE WRONG, CASEY! YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU'RE SO RIGHT; BUT YOU'RE WRONG! I'M NOT SCARED OF FALLING IN LOVE. I'M SCARED OF ADMITTING IT!" He yelled, not realizing what he was saying.

Casey let a final tear fall from her eye before she got the last word in. "The truth is, Derek. I don't know if you were a mistake, but I know damn well that if I had the chance to go back and tell myself what I know now... _I wouldn't do it._"

**_-- -- --_**

"Do you really hate him?" Sally asked quietly after 20 minutes of dead silence between the two. It was obvious the whole house had heard them last night.

"Yes." Casey said, flipping through her magazine.

"I don't think you do." Sally said, closing hers and sitting up straight.

"It doesnt matter what you think." Casey said, her bitchy side coming out.

"Casey, you need to stop pushing everybody away. We're trying to help you, and all you wanna do if be alone." Sally said, moving over to Casey's bed. "We don't bite, I promise."

"Sally, it's not about that. Me and Derek just didn't work out, and I'm ready to move on. I can only move on by myself. I can't do it with 50 people down my throat." Casey said, sighing and shutting her magazine.

Sally sat back, and took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. "Casey, do you realize what you just said?" She asked in a small voice.

"I need to move on by myself?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, That you and Derek didn't work out... I'm just now realizing you guys were actually together." She whispered.

"Than you're _extremely_ slow." Casey said in a joking voice through a small smile.

"I mean, you would have never thought that you guys would be together. It just hit me." Sally said.

"That's what I'm saying. Me and Derek are not meant for each other; and stupid of me to think that we were." Casey took a deep breath, then looked Sally into the eyes. "I need to get out of here."


	13. So Far From Where I've Been

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_Maybe you were all faster than me,  
We gave each other up so easily.  
These silly little wounds will never mend;  
**I feel so far from where I've been.**_

"Hey, Em." Casey said as she laid on the couch, and Emily walked into the house.

"Hello." She said through a smile, as she pull at McDonald's bag on the kitchen counter. "It was my night to cook." She said, plopping down next to her.

"You're a smart one." Casey said through a smile.

"I know." Emily joked tucking her hair behind her ears.

"New piercing, I see." She said, pointing to her ear.

"Oh yea, me and Sally went yesterday. I was going to get my belly button but I chickened out." Emily said, glaring at the TV.

It made Casey feel so left out... Usually when they did things like that, Casey was the one they begged to come alone, now, Casey wasn't even informed they left the house everyday.

"What did Sally get?" Casey asked.

"A tattoo." Emily said, looking at Casey through the corner of her eye.

Casey would have especially known about a tattoo. "Seriously? Of what?"

"Alright, don't tell her I told you, but..." Emily quickly tucked her legs beneath her and turn towards Casey, this was a sign that she was about to learn some fun gossip about Sally.

"I think she's totally obsessed with Derek!" Emily yelled, and Casey quickly looked around the room, just waiting for Sally or Derek to come in.

"Don't worry their all out."

Another thing that Casey didn't know.

"Why is she obsessed with him?" She wished everybody would stop acting like nothing happened. Why were they all moving on so quickly? Why were they all so much faster than her?

"She got a daisy on her ankle." Emily said, as if Casey understood.

"So?" Casey just raised an eyebrow.

"So that was the flower that Derek gave her on their first date. I mean, she must think that they will be together forever." Instantly, Emily clapped her hand over her mouth, as if she had said something she shouldn't have.

"_Together_? What do you mean?" Casey asked, her heart falling into her stomach; or at least it felt like it.

"I'm sorry Casey, I said too much." Emily said, starting to get up, as if she could just act like nothing happened.

"Emily!? It's just a crush, right!? She doesn't actually go out with him, does she!?" Casey asked, starting to feel like she couldn't breathe.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could say.

_**-- -- --**_

"TELL ME WHY!?" Casey screamed at the top of her lungs as she burst into Derek's room. The look on his face described exactly what confused was.

"TELL ME WHY WE CAN GIVE EACH OTHER UP SO EASILY!?" She screamed.

"YOU DON'T WANT ME, CASEY, YOU MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THE OTHER DAY!" He yelled back. There was so much more anger in his voice than last time.

"I'm tired of fighting." Casey whispered through her tears. "I don't want to fight with you."

He said nothing, He just stood there, and refused to cry.

"Why did you give up, Derek!? It wasn't over for me!" She whispered.

"Casey, you pushed me away, how in the world could we have a relationship if you never want me around!?" Derek said in a low voice.

Casey was about to admit something she has never said to anybody, and it was one of the hardest things shes ever done.

"I build walls to see who cares enough to climb over them, Derek. I push you away to make you push back!....... AND YOU DIDN'T PUSH BACK, YOU JUST GAVE UP!" She screamed, pushing him with all of her might, into the wall standing behind her.

"YOU DIDN'T CARE!" She screamed, pushing him again.

"STOP!" He screamed. "I tried! Damnit, Casey,_ I tried_! I'm sorry I moved too fast! _I'm sorry I'm with Sally_, but I sure as hell don't want to be..." He yelled.

Casey let another tear fall from her face, and watched Derek speak.

"Casey, you have a good job, you make good money. You're dad's the richest man in his state. You're smart and pretty, and can get anything you want. You're gonna have a great future.... This is it for me. I'm probably gonna be in this house forever. Every body's gonna move out and get married and have kids, and I'm just gonna stay here....This is it for me..." Derek said as he took a deep breath. "I'll only hold you back." He whispered.

"Derek, please." She whispered.

"It's over. Life goes on, you're gonna look back, these wounds will just be silly." He said, _finally_, letting a tear fall from his eye.

"No, Derek. You're wrong! These _silly _little wounds....They will _never _heal." She whispered.

_**-- -- --**_

Casey was always one to carefully fold her clothes, and stick them in a neat bag when she was leaving, but she was so different now, everything has changed, especially her.

She took every clothing item out of her drawer and threw them into boxes laying on the floor. Then she threw all of her shoes in them, and then the make up, and hair curlers, soon enough, her side of the room was empty, all that was left was an uncovered bed, and a picture on the wall.

She kept the door locked so that nobody would walk in and see her, and try to talk her out of it. She had made up her mind. _This was it. _Before she moved the boxes down stairs, she studied the picture. It was Her, Sam, Derek, Sally, and Emily. Standing out front of the white house. With smiles on their faces and magazines over their heads so that the rain doesn't soak them. She was so happy, and so innocent.

She felt so far away now.

_**-- -- --**_

**Just a quick reminder; Dasey will always find a way (:**

**PS- This fight with Casey and Derek was definitely inspired by The Notebook; so, it might remind you of that if you've seen it before (:**


	14. In My Heart, It's The Five Of Us

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK!**

_So I go, and I will not be back here again,  
I'm gone as the day is fading on white houses.  
I lie, put my injuries all in the dust;  
**In my heart is the five of us, in white houses.**_

She finally unlocked the door, but the only person standing there was Sam. She slowly stepped aside and let him in, immediately closing the door.

"_Boxes_." He whispered, looking around at them. "Their wet?" He said, noticing what looked like rain drops on them.

"_Tears_." She whispered.

"I take it, you're leaving?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

"Yea." She whispered, pulling her hands on her hips, and staring down at them.

"Do you have anywhere to go? Because, I still didn't sell my apartment, if you wanted to stay there..." Sam said, instantly understanding, and deciding not to put up a fight.

"No, it's alright, but thank you. I have a beach house that my dad bought. He gave it to me when I turned 18." She said, tucking her hair behind her ears, and taking a deep breath.

"Can you lift all the boxes in your car? I could follow you." He said.

"No, there's not too many things." She said. "But you can help me move them out to the car... And explain to everybody why they should only say good bye, and not try to talk me out of it." She whispered.

"Sure." Was all he said before he started picking up the boxes, and moving them outside.

She chose not to bring up the night they spent together. It would only make things worse, she wanted to leave on a good note. This was as close to 'good' as she could get.

_**-- -- --**_

"Paint the walls whatever damn color you want Sally." Casey said before she put the last box in the car. She wasn't going to be nice to her, she didn't deserve it. She was hanging all over Derek as if he were some trophy.

"Casey, I don't want to end on this note." Sally said, letting her hand fall from around Derek's neck.

"Yes, you do. Sally, you got it all. You've always had it, I was just in your way." Casey said as she spun the keys around her pointer finger.

She look gorgeous. Her dark, long hair was down and curly, and her blue eyes were glowing like a flashlight, right into his heart.

It was the best she has looked since the first day they got there. It made Derek sad that the only time she was happy was when she was leaving him. Maybe he was right; he was only messing things up for her. _If you love something, let it go, right?_

"I'm gonna miss you." Emily whined, warping her arms around Casey's neck.

"I know, I'll miss you too." Casey said, placing her hand on Emily's back.

"Can we have a minute alone, please?" Derek asked, everybody nodded, and walked into the house as Emily blew goodbye kisses to Casey.

"So this is it." Derek said in more of a whisper, as he ran his hands through his hair. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She lied as she took a deep breath. "It's all in the dust now." She whispered, looking up at the sky.

"You're not coming back, are you?" He asked.

Casey responded by shaking her head. There was a few moments of silence before Casey spoke again.

"It was fun while it lasted." She whispered.

"It was, wasn't it?" Derek asked, squinting his eyes as the lowering sun shinned in his eyes.

"Yea." It was awkward, but sweet. Casey didn't know what to think of this, a apart of her wanted to leave, but another part of her wanted to stay. "It's not like I'll never see you again." She said, tilting her head to the side.

"Yea, I doubt Nora or dad would let that happen." He said.

"I should go." She whispered as she opened the car door, and sat inside.

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to chase you and say it was all a mistake?" Derek asked before she closed the door.

"That only happens in the movies, or in bitter sweet love stories." She whispered.

"Who says this isn't a love story?" He asked.

"Derek, just drop it. I'm leaving, you're staying. We didn't work out, we probably never will. It _was _fun while it lasted, but it's over now. There's no turning back, I wish I had a time machine so I could fix everything that went wrong, but I don't have one, we need to live with our choices. I'm sorry Derek." She whispered, before she shut the door, and started the car.

"What if I need you!?" Derek yelled, swinging the door back open.

"You wont." She said, grabbing the handle and trying to shut it again, but Derek's hand stopped it.

Casey sighed and looked up at him. "Do you want to come with me?" She asked what she had been begging herself to ask. She didn't know what kind of answer she wanted, she just wanted a reaction.

"Come with you?" Derek asked, out of breath.

"Yes." Casey asked, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Case, I can't do that." He said, looking at her as if she were crazy, which she was beginning to think she was.

"Then goodbye." She said, fighting the tears.

"Come on, don't leave like this." Derek said, blocking her from shutting the door.

"Derek! Stop!" She yelled, pushing him out of the way. "I'm leaving!" She yelled.

_And she did. She drove away with tears blurring her vision, and as the purple and pink sky along with the sun sank behind the row of white houses, she held the peddle to the floor, trying as hard as should could to not look back. She pretended that Derek was behind her, in the middle of the street watching her drive away, but she knew he wasn't. _

_He was probably back in the house, watching TV, tangled up with Sally, and nobody even cared that she was gone. It made her cry harder._

_**-- -- --**_

**REMEMBER- Dasey will always find a way (:**

**Only a couple chapters left.....**


	15. Doing It Right

**I DO NOT OWN LIFE WITH DEREK !**

_Six Months Later._

She stood out on the balcony of her new home, looking out into the ocean, as the wind blew through her newly cut hair. It was now layered and stopped right above her shoulders, and blew in the wind.

She was starting to get used to her new house. It was cozy, but big. Full, but empty. Quiet, but fun. Cold, but warm. It was full of oxymoron's, just like Casey. She felt like she was where she belonged. She could stay here for the rest of her life and be happy... But she knew there was something better out there, something that would make her even more happier.

She didn't want to live the rest of her life alone. She wanted a husband, and children. But those things didn't look like they were in store for her.

After she moved, she found a new job, a better one. She enjoyed waking up and driving down the empty roads, watching the ocean waves crash beside her, and parking a few blocks away, so she could walk a little, which she enjoyed even more. The people around there were so nice. They never beeped their cars or yelled at strangers. There was barely anything on the news reporting a crime, unless it was outside of the neighborhood.

She took a sip of her morning coffee and a deep breath as she pulled her coat tighter around her. She watched her breath make steam in the air, and pretended she was sophisticatedly smoking a cigarette... It would have been a lot funnier if her friends were around, or if she even had any.

She had a few neighbors, and some people she would call up every now and then, but no friends. _She was lonely._

Normally, the only sounds she heard were the birds, then waves crashing, and occasionally screams coming from the roller coaster on the board walk, but that was only in the summer, which was over now.

But today she heard a car, pulling up in front of the house. She was on her back deck, so she couldn't see.

Since nobody ever visits her, in a way, it was scary. She quickly ran back into the house, leaving her coffee on the small table.

She ran through her bed room and almost tripped on the long white curtains blowing in the wind. She ran down the spiral steps, that she fell down numerous times in the past, amazingly this time, she zoomed right down them.

She ran past the white couches, and the TV that hasn't been on for three days. She ran through the kitchen, almost slipping on the tile floor, but grabbing the fridge to save the fall. She quickly pulled her blue snow hat with a big pink flower off of the coat rack, placed it on top of her head, and ran down the three small steps, leading to the front door.

She sung the door open, and a part of her wanted to slam it shut again when she saw what she saw.

_The prince. _Sitting there, looking as horrible and beat up as it always did. And inside was Derek, staring right at her, into her deep blue eyes that looked like they had just saw a ghost. Her breathing got deeper as she dropped her arms and tilted her head, giving him a look asking _'Why didn't you just call?'_

"I was afraid that you wouldn't pick up." He yelled from the driver's seat, out of the window, instantly reading her face.

"No, I probably wouldn't." She whispered under her breath, shaking her head gently.

Derek slowly got out of the car.

Casey studied everything about him. His hair was shorter, like when they first met, he wasn't as scrawny, as if he had been working out. As he walked towards her, she noticed his eyes, and how dark they were, but sad. _Regretful._

"What are you doing here?" Casey whispered, as he stood in front of her.

"I think you need to come back home." Derek said, bluntly.

"Are you insane?" She asked, starting to get angry as her eyes got wider and her jaw dropped.

"No."

"Derek, I can't believe you drove all the way down here just to tell me to do something you knew I wouldn't do." She said, placing her hands on her hips, and tilting her head to the side.

"Case, their crazy! Emily has a different guy over every night, Sam is mopping around like he just killed a puppy, Sally is smoking now, and she thinks it alright to keep all the windows closed!" He yelled.

Casey took a deep breath, and looked into his eyes again. "What about you? I'm sure you're no picnic either." She said, but he was silent.

"Do you wanna come in?" Casey asked, finally giving up.

"Yea." He whispered.

_**-- -- --**_

"This is really nice." Derek whispered.

"Yea, and it's definitely a plus when you don't have to worry if somebody else didn't buy toilet paper, or pay the electric bill." She said, raising her eye brow.

"I guess so." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Any down sides?" He asked.

"I've been having super weird dreams about the Jonas Brothers." She whispered, it was the first thing to come to her mind, and the only down side she would tell him.

"That would definitely be a down side." He said through a small chuckle.

Casey took a sip of her now cold coffee, but never took her eyes off of him.

"So hows that relationship with Sally going?" Casey asked.

"It ended, five months ago." Derek said, staring at his hands in his lap.

"Sorry..." She whispered, though she wasn't.

"Don't be. It was stupid." Derek said, running his fingers through his hair again. "Alright look," Derek said, getting to the point. "You really need to come back." He said.

"Derek, I'm not coming back. I'm happy here." She whispered.

"But you would be happier with us." He pleaded.

"You really are crazy." She whispered, putting her head down.

After a few moments of silence, Derek finally looked up at her. "You're not coming back, are you?" He asked.

She responded by shaking her head.

"Tell me why I'm such a mistake." He whispered, catching her off-gard.

"You're not." She said in a her normal voice.

"You told me I was." He protested.

"Well I changed my mind, then." She said, trying to make him shut up.

"Just tell me why, Case. So I know exactly what I did to become such a horrible person." He said, rolling his eyes.

"That! Right there!" She yelled.

"What!?"

"Rolling your eyes like that when I am dead serious!" She yelled. "You can't take anything seriously! You know that!?" She yelled. "Derek, we weren't meant for each other." She whispered.

"Neither were Bella and Edward." He whispered, making her head shoot up.

"You read that!?" She looked outraged.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" He asked, almost insulted.

"First; I've never met a male in my life who's read that book, and second, you don't read _anything_." She said, her eyes still large.

"I finished it in one night... The first one, anyway." He said, shocking her even more.

"It took me a week!" She yelled.

"I know." He whispered. He remembered that week like it was yesterday. She kept rambling on and on about who amazing Edward was, and that she wished he was real. He listened as she spoke about finding love in strange places, and it's more fun to love someone you shouldn't because it would be boring any other way.

"I cant be a vampire, but I can keep life interesting." He whispered.

"You can, can't you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

Derek was so relieved; he had said the right thing at the right time...

"I don't want to love you." She whispered, closing her eyes.

"I don't want to love you, either.... But I do." He said, but she didn't open them.

"Love is more than just a word, Derek." Casey whispered.

"It's a promise." He said, he just couldn't stop shocking her.

She slowly opened her eyes, and stared at him from across the table. A small smile came to her face. "I hate you." She said, still smiling, shaking her head back and forth.

"The thing about hate is that; we usually _love_ the ones we hate." He whispered, creating a smile of his own.

"Yea..." She whispered.

"Common, I wanna hear it." He said through a teasing smile.

"Shut up." She said, she was now smiling so hard that her cheeks hurt.

"Say itttttt." He sang.

"No."

"You know you want to." He whispered.

There was silence, then finally the words came from her mouth. "I love you." She whispered, holding her eyes shut tight.

"I don't think you've seen my bedroom yet." Casey said through a sly smile. "Would you like to?" She asked.

"That depends." He whispered.

"On...?"

"Are you going to throw up, again?" He asked through his smile.

She just laughed, as they stood up from the table. She ran over to him and jumped into his arms, so that he was carrying her with her legs wrapped around his waist. "Can we do it right, this time?" She whispered as he walked towards the steps.

"We sure can." He whispered.

She was expecting him to carry her up stairs, and make love to her, with his vision of 'right' but apparently, his vision of right, was so much better than that.

He slowly set her down, in front of the steps, confusing her. "What are you doing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Doing it right." He whispered, before slowly kneeling down on one knee, and pulling a small black box out of his pocket.

He didn't even have to ask.

"Yes." She whispered.

**The End!**

**Yayyyy! I hoped you guys like it!!! (:**


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